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© Juan
Carlos Ulate / Reuters
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German
researchers have developed a diagnostic test that can accurately detect the
Zika virus in humans. Until now, the only way to determine if someone had the
illness was to wait to see if the disease’s distinctive symptoms appeared.
Genekam,
a German biotechnology company, has created technology that can not only reveal
the presence of Zika pathogens in a blood sample, but also shed light on the
quantity in the patient’s blood, Deutsche Welle (DW) reports.
The
new test can therefore definitely determine if a person is a carrier of the
Zika virus, as only one in five people infected actually becomes ill, the media
reports. Additionally, the test renders diagnostic results in real time, which
is relatively quick for a virus of this kind.
“Our
test examines DNA and works with chemicals that react to the Zika virus only,”
Sudhir Bhartia, a virologist and one of the co-developers of the innovation,
told DW. The researcher also added that the test provides sufficient accuracy,
as “similar pathogens like Dengue fever won’t show up in the results.”
However,
the technology has its limitations, as it can only be employed in specialized
medical facilities and laboratories having the appropriate equipment and
personnel with sufficient know-how.
“The
test must only be used by qualified personnel so that mistakes can be avoided,”
Bhartia stressed.
At
the same time, it is rather cheap, costing about €5.
According
to Deutsche Welle, the first kits containing the new tests have already been
sent to Brazil, which is suffering from a Zika virus epidemic in which up to
1.5 million people may have been infected. Under normal circumstances, the test
would go through a lengthy authorization phase. However, due to the emergency
situation in South America, authorities have made an exception in this case.
The
Zika virus has been rapidly spreading across the globe since the first cases
were reported in Brazil in May of 2015. Between three and four million people
have been infected with the virus worldwide, according to WHO data.
The
infection is believed to be mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito,
which is present in all continents, including the southern United States and
the Mediterranean region. According to medics, the virus is generally not
dangerous for healthy adult people. Its symptoms, if they emerge at all, are
much like those of a usual flu.
“If
you show no symptoms three weeks after you return, they’re not going to
manifest anymore,” Christian Drosten from the German Society for Virology told
DW, referring to tourists returning from territories affected by the ongoing
epidemic.
“And two weeks after that, the virus will no longer be present in your body,” he added.
At the same time, the virus could be particularly dangerous for women in their first trimester, as it is suspected to cause microcephaly, a birth defect that results in an underdeveloped head and brain.
“And two weeks after that, the virus will no longer be present in your body,” he added.
At the same time, the virus could be particularly dangerous for women in their first trimester, as it is suspected to cause microcephaly, a birth defect that results in an underdeveloped head and brain.
However,
German medical specialists have called the connection between Zika virus and
birth defects into question.
“There
are still too many aspects we don’t understand about the Zika virus to say it
directly causes microcephaly,” Drosten said.
According
to Deutsche Welle, the Brazilian health ministry has received reports of 4,180
birth defects suspected to be microcephaly, of which it has managed to
investigate about 700. Only 270 of those birth defects were actually confirmed
to be microcephaly-related, and Zika virus infection was present in less than
10 of those cases.
“I
think it’s possible that there’s only a very loose correlation between the Zika
virus and microcephaly,” Drosten said in commenting on this data.
“The
health risk may not be big, but these women have a tough time psychologically
and are burdened with ethical concerns,” he added.
As
of now, five people have been diagnosed with Zika virus in Germany. All of them
had returned from areas hit by the epidemic, Bavarian Broadcasting Company
Bayerischer Rundfunk reported. Meanwhile, German Health Minister Hermann Grohe
plans to oblige Germans and report all cases of infections involving
insect-borne pathogenic diseases. The upper house of the German parliament is
expected to vote on the minister’s proposal in mid-March.
US
President Barack Obama and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, agreed
during a telephone conversation on Friday to create a high profile expert group
in order to “step up fighting” against the Zika virus and develop a vaccine for
the disease.
“We will win this fight,” Rousseff told the governors of the Brazilian regions beset by the virus.
“We will win this fight,” Rousseff told the governors of the Brazilian regions beset by the virus.
On February 13, Brazil
plans to deploy more than 200,000 troops to spread awareness of the Zika virus.
The uniformed soldiers will walk around Brazilian neighborhoods handing out
leaflets and mosquito repellent door-to-door, Health Minister Marcelo Castro
said in an interview on Wednesday.
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Zika virus is believed to be mainly
transmitted by the Aedes aegypti
mosquito
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ZIKA VIRUS: What You
Need To Know About The Latest Global Health Scare
You
may not have heard of it until very recently, but new cases of the Zika virus
continue to pop up around the world. Spreading mostly in Latin America and the
Caribbean, the virus has now been confirmed in three travelers from the UK.
A
statement from Public Health England said those infected had recently traveled
through South America, but it is not clear if the people involved have since
returned to the UK.
The
Britons travelled to Colombia, Suriname and Guyana, where they are suspected of
contracting the mosquito-borne disease. Public Health England has not confirmed
if any of the three are pregnant.
Why
is Zika dangerous?
There
is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause fever, rashes, joint pains, and
conjunctivitis within days of being contracted. For most of those infected, the
virus causes a short illness lasting between two and seven days. However, in
some rare cases, it can result in serious illness and death.
Infants
are most at risk from Zika, as mothers can pass the infection on to their
fetus, leading to microcephaly – a rare birth defect where babies are born with
abnormally small heads and developmental delays.
Treatment
for the Zika virus focuses on pain relief and fever reduction, with some
patients also given antihistamines for itchy skin rashes.
Preventative
measures focus on general mosquito bite prevention, such as using insecticides,
and special nets and screens.
Where
it came from
The
Zika virus is mainly found in South America, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and
Southeast Asia.
The
virus was first discovered in Africa in 1947, circulating in humans, animals
and mosquitoes with few documented outbreaks. In wasn’t until 2007 that an
Asian strain of the virus caused the first outbreak outside of Africa, in
Micronesia. The same strain caused an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013,
which has since spread to the Pacific Islands and South America.
Within
nine months of the first case being confirmed in the northeast of Brazil in May
2015, most Brazilian states had reported locally-acquired cases.
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© Google
Maps
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Brazil
has seen a surge in outbreaks of the fever since 2015. The country had seen an
average of 150 babies a year born with microcephaly, but from October 2015 to
January 2016 that number rocketed to over 3,500, according to the Brazilian
Ministry of Health.
In
the US, “over a dozen” cases of Zika have been confirmed so far. Currently, one
infant diagnosed with the condition in Hawaii is carrying the virus – the first
case of Zika-connected microcephaly in the US.
Israel
reported its first case of the virus this week, in a two-year-old girl
returning from a visit to Colombia.
The
US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have expanded their list of
countries currently under a Zika-related travel warning to 22: Brazil,
Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique,
Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde, and Samoa.
Public
Health England has said it expects to see further cases of the virus spread
internationally, especially “where the mosquito vector is present.”
How
Zika spreads
The
virus is primarily spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito.
It cannot be spread through human contact, as Brazil’s health ministry noted on
Twitter.
However,
a 2013 study found that in some circumstances, the virus could potentially
spread through sexual intercourse.
The
link between Zika and microcephaly has yet to be confirmed, but recent cases of
infant deaths in Brazil – where doctors have been left with no explanation
other than Zika – have been enough evidence for the CDC to target pregnant
women with their warnings about the virus.
The
Centers say that, although rare, a mother who becomes infected with the virus
near her delivery date can pass the virus on to the newborn around the time of
birth. However, they add “there are no reports of infants getting Zika virus
through breastfeeding.”
Affected
countries have been taking a range of precautions to prevent the spread of the
virus, such as fumigation in Venezuela and Honduras:
Meanwhile, authorities in
Brazil are even considering introducing genetically engineered mosquitoes to
help them combat Zika’s spread.
Originally published (STORY 1 & STORY 2) in RT.com
